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Gulu logistics hub: A basket of goodies
Men arrange sacks of food in a warehouse. The Gulu trade hub, if properly utilised, could change the fortunes of northern Uganda. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA
What you need to know:
- In recent years, Uganda has been a distribution hub for South Sudan and the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Ismaill Musa Ladu explains how the Gulu trade logistics hub will hand traders good fortunes.
With the construction of Gulu trade logistic hub currently at the tail end of design stage, there will be several winners both along the way and upon its completion.
A logistics hub is a centre or specific area designated to deal with activities related to transportation, organisation, separation, coordination and distribution of goods for national and international transit, on a commercial basis by various operators.
Further reaffirming the need for the logistics infrastructure are economic and policy analysts, project funders plus the northern Uganda community opinion leaders Daily Monitor spoke to during the site visit of the 22-acre piece of land recently.
They say the $9 million (about Shs34 billion) Gulu trade logistic hub whose development has delayed by at least two years, is already long overdue, considering the value it would generate once it is fully fledged and operational.
Gulu logistics hub will also be linked to the regional Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project due to its proximity to South Sudan, once the country’s leading export market and the Democratic republic of Congo (DRC), another promising export destination for locally manufactured products.
Game changer
The trade logistics hub will create numerous jobs in maintenance, assembly, machinery repair and dry docking, packaging and labeling as well as administrative work. This will be in addition to mushrooming opportunities such as accommodation services, hotels, restaurants and retail shops it would have created thanks to the new infrastructure.
“Gulu is expected to attain a city status soon. This trade logistics hub will increase our chances of becoming a city sooner than we anticipated,” Gulu town clerk Francis Barabanwe, said in an interview.
He continued: “Attaining city status means you must have infrastructure, the economy should be vibrant and the welfare of the people should be fine.”
During the construction stage, at least 2,000 people will have jobs and thousands more will be employed either directly or indirectly upon the facility’s completion.
Once completed after 41 months, it will harbour a container yard, railway siding, container freight station, warehousing complex, vehicle holding area and traffic flows. Access roads, truck stop (parking), administration building, container light repair work shop, customs office; perimeter wall, security gate and guardhouse will also be part of the infrastructure.
It will also provide handling and storage facilities, space for stakeholders dealing with freight transport (freight forwarders, shippers and transport operators) and accompanying services such as customs inspections, tax payment, maintenance and repair, banking and information communication technology connections.
“It will make it easy for us to serve markets in South Sudan and DRC. There will be efficient management of freight transport through this corridor and it will also improve industry players’ capacity to handle containers and other cargo here,” Dr Merrian Sebunya, freight logistics and transport sector consultant, said.
Project
Project Duration: 41 Months
Funding: The United Kingdom Department for International Development ($.3million) and the European Union (€5 million) through TradeMark East Africa. Compensation: Occupants on part of the land where the facility will be built are willing to vacate for the sake of this project, thanks to the involvement of community leadership. “Compensation will be handled by the government,” the principal transport economist at the ministry of works and transport, Mr Gerald Ekinu, told Daily Monitor.
